VISTA — The process of returning former farmlands to their natural state at the Buena Vista Creek Ecological Reserve continued April 12 as volunteers watered and weeded infant riparian willows.

The Buena Vista Creek Ecological Reserve, a 132-acre piece of property purchased by a coalition of North County environmental groups, is part of the rapidly dwindling undeveloped land around Mount Calavera at the junction of Carlsbad and Vista.

The event was organized by Preserve Calavera, a Carlsbad-based group devoted to the protection of one of the last natural coastal enclaves in the county.

In January, the organization was given willows left over from a Carlsbad building project, which were planted along the Buena Vista Creek to provide shade and cover. The following month, volunteers took the willow cuttings and planted small branches along the creek.

Within just a few months, weeds were choking the saplings and the trees were thirsty again as the rainy season ended. This April 12 volunteer effort was organized to help the willows through their hard first months.

Another challenge for volunteers is keeping the reserve free of trash after its initial cleanup.

“Basically, it was like 30 years of people out here, all accumulated. Now it just comes down creek. Even though we cleaned this up recently, just walking here today I’ve found three or four bags of trash,” said Markus Spiegelberg, area manager of the Center for Natural Land Management.

Volunteer Sylvia Pauloo-Taylor has previously done cleanup duty at the end of the reserve near Marron Road in Carlsbad.

“We took out bicycles and clothes (and) mattresses — really wheelbarrows of stuff because there were so many transients living down in there for a while,” she said.

Their efforts are paying off. Just a short driving distance from suburbs and office blocks, the reserve provides an invaluable vista of San Diego’s natural environment, which will ultimately be open to the public. Several endangered species make the reserve their home, including the thread-leaved brodiaea, the orange-throated whiptail and the California gnatcatcher.

“I don’t have to see them. I just love knowing they’re there,” volunteer Karen Merrill said.

“We’re hoping very much that (the reserve) won’t get built up into resorts and restaurants … and housing,” Pauloo-Taylor said. “I’m not one of those people who’s totally against all development ... I’m just hoping … that some of this land will be preserved.”

“This is really important work. It’s grassroots work, and I really enjoy doing that,” she added.